


the tattoo expo

by creepingdarkness



Category: BBS - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 12:56:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11148867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creepingdarkness/pseuds/creepingdarkness
Summary: Strange places to meet strange people.





	the tattoo expo

Luke had an attraction to tattoos. It was something about the way it seemed to bring peoples skin to life, the swirls and patterns marked into their skin giving a glimpse into the heart of the person they were a part of. Whether they were well planned out or just a spur of the moment thing, they were like an open window into a part of their life. There was an intoxicating beauty to art that someone found worthy to permanently add to their body.

So of course when Jon asked if he’d go with him to the tattoo convention that was coming to town he had immediately agreed. He had gone with Jon a few of the times he’d gotten pieces done by artists in the city, and all those tattoos had turned out nicely, but he was excited to see the new piece he was getting done by an incredibly talented artist who was coming from out of state.

When Jon had showed him examples of the guys work he was so impressed he was almost tempted to book an appointment with the guy himself despite the fact that he had no idea what he would even get (that was one of the main reasons he hadn’t gotten a tattoo yet himself).

So when the day of the expo came he wasn’t sure why he was feeling so jittery. He had been fine all morning, but once they had gotten inside of the event hall something just seemed off, like an extremely strong case of dejavu, but he couldn’t place when he’d felt anything like this before.

Determined to enjoy the event he brushed it off as just being a little freaked out by one of the booths they passed that was full of taxidermy animals. He swore he could feel the one ducks fake eyes following him as he walked by.

That didn’t stop him from trying to convince Jon to buy it though. His loud laugh at that drawing attention before he rejected the idea, earning a glare from the booth attendant as he dissed the ‘ugly ass stuffed abominations in front of her potential customers. Luke hustled them both away as she looked just about ready to leave her booth to try and kick them out of the expo.

He ended up following slightly behind Jon as they walked around so that he could look at the rainbow of people as they walked past with coloured hair and skin. Nearly everyone here had at least one visible tattoo, and more than half were simply covered in ink. He was so busy admiring one woman’s water-coloured sleeve of flowers he walked straight into Jon’s back, not noticing he had stopped.

Jon though was too excited to give him shit for running into him, he’s practically jumping up and down at that point as he grabs him by the elbow, dragging him towards one of the booths on their right. The sign its got hanging up rather plain compared to some of the more eccentric signs on the other nearby booths.

Realizing he still wasn’t paying attention to the right thing, Jon starts tugging at his elbow again to bring his focus to the example books spread across the booths front table. He frowned when he saw the symbol on the cover of the book Jon picked up to start flipping through, the feeling of dejavu becoming almost over whelming.

“Can I help you guys?” So focused on the book both him and Jon are startled by the sudden appearance of one of the booth workers, Jon making an awkward noise as the book nearly slips out of his hand. About to apologize for him Luke puts on an apologetic smile as he faces the guy before all the words he was about to say die in his throat as he meets a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

“Oh yeah! Sorry, I’ve got an appointment with, um, Ohmwrecker in like 15 minutes.” Jon says, not noticing the staring contest going on beside him as he sets the book back onto the safety of the table before extending a hand to the guy. “I’m Jon by the way.”

Luke is finally able to take a breath as the guy finally breaks their eye contact, turning his sharp focus into a warm smile as he turns to shake Jon’s hand. “Nice to meet you Jon, I’m Ohm but you can call me Ryan.” He says as his eyes cut back to Luke, something almost feral in his gaze. “All my friends do. Its actually good that you’re here early, my last client finished early so we can actually start now if you want?” Receiving an excited nod from Jon, Ryan gestured for them to follow him into the booth.

Following along reluctantly Luke watched the all too familiar walk of Ryan as he led them to his station, receiving a smirk as Ryan noticed him watching. That feeling of dejavu was now long gone, morphed into actual (if slightly fuzzy) memories.

Luke grabbed one of the folding chairs leaning against the side of the booth and set it up next to what looked like a massage table that he assumed Jon was going to be tattooed on. He was happy to be third wheeled as they discussed the design and its placement, it gave him a chance to get over his shock, to focus on composing himself and also actually look at Ryan since it had been so long.

Objectively speaking, Ryan looked good, _really_ good even. It seemed like he’d been going to the gym, and he had grown his facial hair out a bit since he’d last seen him, but other than that he looked like the same guy from all those months ago with the hypnotizing eyes and playful smile that had first drawn him in.

Luke snapped back to attention as those eyes moved back to him, catching the last of their conversation.

“-fill this out while I set up, then you and your boyfriend can get comfortable before I start.”

At that both Luke and Jon both looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

“Oh hell no! I love this guy, but were just friends!” Jon said as he signed the forms and got up onto the table, rolling his pant leg up in preparation, shaking his head at the absurdity of the idea of them together.

Still focused on Ryan, Luke noticed how he seemed to perk up a bit at that, smile widening almost imperceptibly as he looked between them. “Sorry for assuming.” Ryan said as he moved to a cabinet and started pulling things out of the drawers and setting them on top. “You guys just seem close, but I guess that’s friendship for you.” Pulling a few final items out he wheeled the cabinet over beside them before pulling up his chair. Taking Jon’s leg in his hands Ryan cleaned and cleared the area for the tattoo before transferring the design onto his skin, and once he got Jon’s approval he cleaned it again and rubbed Vaseline into it. “Sooo, are you guys single then?”

Realizing what he was doing Luke snorted. “That was real fuckin smooth Ryan.” He teased, smiling at Ryan who was trying to act like he hadn’t been abstractly trying to see if Luke was dating anyone. Although he could be interested in Jon and that thought had Luke involuntarily tensing up in his chair.

Ryan just beamed at his response though, seemingly just glad that he had finally spoken to him. Setting up his needles as he prepared to tattoo Jon, Ryan still seemed focused on him to the point he was only semi focused on his actual client. Everyone seemed to ignore what Luke had said, instead focusing on the buzzing of the tattoo gun as it started up.

The odd silence continued for almost an hour before Jon needed a break, getting a slight cover over his semi completed tattoo before he headed out through the convention for a bathroom break and slight snack, preferably without Luke around to sneak a couple bites of his food.

So being left alone with Ryan for a while, he struggled to find anything to say that wouldn’t directly open up a conversation about their shared past.

“I like your beard.” Was the rather lame sounding compliment he came up with. But it was true, the slight beard framed his face almost perfectly, highlighting his jawline and high cheekbones.

“Thanks.” Ryan said before batting his lashes at him. “I was inspired by this rather handsome man I met a while ago.

Although it sounded slightly vain Luke thought he might not be too far off the mark if he said Ryans beard was inspired by his own rather magnificent beard. Taking that at face value he leaned into where Ryan was sitting, voice deep as he whispered into his ear as Jon finally returned to his position on the table. “Mmm, I gotta say, whoever it was must have had magnificent taste then.” Before moving back into his seat, content to quietly watch Ryan’s skilled hands as they worked on his friend.

Ryan’s voice was slightly husky as he spoke to Jon as he repositioned him, and he continued to work as if Luke hadn’t said anything at all, but Luke could feel his gaze on him more often now.

***

 

“Do you have any tattoos?” Jon’s question brought Luke out of his slight daze. He hadn’t even realized that the tattoo was finished and all wrapped up, he had been too distracted in his own little world.

 Looking at Ryan it seemed like a fair question, as he had a regular t-shirt that exposed a fair bit of un-inked skin. But Luke knew he actually had a couple smaller randomly placed tattoos and one beautiful back and chest piece though that morphed through designs so it didn’t look like it actually had beginning or an end.

But of course, Ryan didn’t mention that one.

“I’ve got a little rabbit tattooed on my butt, wanna see?” Ryan said jokingly as he turned is butt towards them and playfully shook it a little bit.

And of course, Jon caught him staring.

That had Jon burst out laughing, before pausing mid laugh to turn to Luke with a confused look on his face. “Hey didn’t you say that last time you left the city a couple months ago you met a hottie with a bunny tattoo on their ass?” Catching Luke speechless for a moment, he nodded to himself as if putting it all together. “I just assumed you had slept with a chick! You never told me you liked guys too!” Jon finished, sound fakely accusing.

Luke wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t like he had intentionally been hiding it, just whenever it came up in conversation they always seemed to be around someone Luke definitely did not want to hear about it, so it just became a sort of not quite secret but not something he had ever actually spoken to Jon about. Now though that was coming back to bight him in the ass.

“You know,” Ryan cut in, noticing the uncomfortable look on Luke’s face. “this shop is thinking of opening a new location in this city.”

“Okay?”

“Soooo.” Ryan drew the word out slowly as if through molasses, waiting for Luke to catch on. “They’re going to need some experienced artists to start it off.”

Luke had a feeling he knew where this was going. “Someone like you?”

Ryan nodded, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah someone like me, although I haven’t decided on if I will or not.”

Jon pulled him slightly aside, pulling him in close to whisper in his ear. “Look at this,” Jon pointed to his fresh tattoo, “you need to convince him to stay so I can get him to do my next one too.” That said, he shoved him towards Ryan and made some vague hand gestures that Luke took to mean start talking.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked into Ryan’s eyes and smiled shyly. “You know, if you do come here I’m calling the first slot.”

“It’s a date!”


End file.
